November 12, 2006

Its been a long time since I have competed in a badminton tournament...played intercollegiate in 2000 and thats abt it...last played competitive badminton at district level in 1992....so it has quite sometime....so i was all excited to play in the tournament....

It, Mid-Atlantic badminton Classic 2006, was held in Bryn Athyn PA, over the past weekend...I competed in Mens Div B Singles and Doubles....Div A would have been pushing too hard to compete when I am competing after a long time...just to give a feel of Div A....people on the US national team and No.1 under 22 player in the US played in that level...in Div A doubles people like Vincent Lobo... was no.1 doubles player in india for 4-5 yrs and played for India at Thomas cup level...played...so it was way out of my league to even think about competing in Div A....not yet atleast....just started getting back into badminton after a long time...play at a Club in Bryn Mawr PA (15 miles from Philly)....actually Vincent lobo also plays at our club...so its a treat to watch that guy play...unbelievable player....

coming back to the tournament....friday evening was the singles tournament...I least expected to make it past the secon d round...i had a easy first round....but i played horribly...won 21-5, 19-21, 21-6...second round was against a student from MIT...heheheh...u guessed it right...an oriental guy....watched him play and beat my friend...so thought thats it for me...but had a good game...kind of warmed up and started playing well...moving well on the court...won 21-18,17-21,21-18...i was dead tired and excited at this point...i had already met my goal that i set for the tournament....

next up was Semi-final against Srikar...from Alaska...he seemed to be a good player...and as the game go underway...I could see that he was clearly a better player...and was just taking me apart...decided to hang in...waited for his mistakes....won the first game 21-19 on the most sensational rally i have played in my entire life !!!!!!!!! it must have had 20-25 shot exchanges....ended with reflex (lucky) smash return from me parallel to the net into my opponents face...i couldnt belive i made that shot!!!!!!!!!!! in the next game he upped his game to another level and dissected my game to win 21-13... i was tired at this point...he had two of his friends that play in men's div A rooting for his and kind of making guestures to help him...I was thinking...."ok, suneel u played well so far...just hang in there and see if u can make it as close as possible"....it went neck-to-neck in the final game...he was always on top of things and was ahead in score...the new scoring system doesnt let u make any mistakes as u win or lost a point every time there is a mistake...it was rally scoring like in TT and volleyball...u can win a point even on opponents serve...i managed to win the game 21-18 !!!!!!!! i was in the final of Men's B singles!!!!!!!!!! i couldnt believe that...I was completely exhausted...played singles after a long time and at that point I had played 9 games of singles in 3 hrs!!!!!! so i was tired...at the scoring table they said that the final will be played whenevr I was ready!!!!!!!!!! they meant that night!!!!!! i told them 15-20 mins as it was already 9:40 pm...and I had to come back that night...1 hr drive and go back to play the doubles early next morning...so i wanted to get done ASAP....

My opponent was a guy from Drexel university...he had beaten his opponents in straight sets...so had played 6 games till then and i had played 9....so he had the advantage of playing fewer games....in the warm up i was trying to probe for some weaknesses but couldnt find any and I saw that he was quick on the court...I had the same sinking feeling that i had befor ethe semi-final game...but suprisingly i was getting to almost all the shots that he was playing so that lifted my confidence....he won the first game 21-18....it wasnt as bad as i thought....but i could see that he was clearly tired...not that i was fresh to play...but I was kind of thankful for my half-marathon training...i had run a half-marathon in september so my stamina was kind of holding me up quite well....I started making my opponent move on the court and started stretching him...he was up to the task and made me move as well...so both of us were dead tired and were stalling for time whenevr we could and were glad that the referee offered 60 secs break at mid-game...we were glad....i prevailed 21-16 !!!!!!!!!! now with one more game to win...i thought of going for the kill initially so that i can jump ahead and then slow down....I expected my strategy to work as my attack would tire my opponent also...my plan worked perfectly and I jumped to a 11-2 lead....from then on it was a uphill climb for both of us...as there were long pauses between serves as we were stalling for time....finally I finished the game 21-10 !!!!!!! I was jubiliant but too tired to celebrate...couple of my friends had stayed back to watch my game and they supported me in the final game that helped immensely...its a feel good think when u look at someone and they clap for u and encourage u and root for u...thanx Devin and Haiti...actually they were rooting for both of us as they were Drexel too:):)

I was tired and literally would have given 100 bucks to anyone who would have offered to drive me home!!!!!!!!!!!!! but couldnt find anyone...

had 5 hrs sleep and hd to get back to play my doubles match the next day....

November 03, 2006

I am not against Indian cricketers or Cricket...in fact I am more a cricket fan than any other. But thought that this mail is worth forwarding.... After loss against New Zealand, India is back to normal with peoplestill hoping for a miracle. In a way it was good that we lost and people now have come out of their craze for arguably most overrated, over promotedand overpaid team.

There is a war on in Kashmir and India has lost 51 soldiers and officers.They are fighting at a height of 17000 ft. It is -5 to -30 C inclement weather.The intruders, 80% of whom are Pakistan army soldiers, are at the top of mountainand our brave soldiers are actually climbing those mountains with rope, against the fire.

Some figures that may shock you:An Indian air force flight lieutenant is paid Rs. 1200 flyingallowance per month and he is supposed to make 40 sorties in aging Migs.That is about Rs. 25 per sortie after taxes. If he dies his family getspaid Rs. 2 lakh.

The man of the match in any World Cup team gets 3000 pounds,about Rs 2.1 lakhs.

When flying over Kargil at 18000 ft the flight lieutenant isjust 1000 ft above intruders armed with American stringer missiles and caneasily be shot down. Yet, he does it. Nachiketa who returned frompakistan captivity will be back for action. And whom do theydo this for?

A person in Bihar has offered 111 coconuts and intends tooffer 10001 more. A large corporate and BJP local unit offered prayer atSidhivinayak temple and distributed prasad. A youth in Gujarat is on fast.No, none of the above is for Indian soldiers, its for India's win in World Cup.

You may be aware of how important the life of a US marine is.

if 5 of them lose their lives, all newspapers in US cry as if world warhas started. There are stories of their families and how they curse US government.Fl. Lt. Ahuja was killed in cold blood and he was cremated by his four year old son...The head line in Times of India was about India\'s win over England.And our team can not make 4 runs in 7 balls against Zimbabwe!!! Andpeople in India or Indian people across the world still worry about their performance.